Chathams growers seek deserts

Press, 8 December 1978, Page 9

Chathams growers seek deserts

It looks as though Chatham Island wool may yield better than it has been expected to in the past and therefore growers may not have been getting their due rewards.

The suspicion that they may not have been getting their due deserts led to five lines of Romney or crossbred wool from the island in for the Christchurch sale last week being tested for yield.

A spokesman for one firm of brokers, who had a line from one of their island clients tested, said after the sale that they had been pleasantly surprised with the yield results and it is certain that they will have most island lines tested in the future. A decision to test four lines was also made after a meeting between Mr L. Galloway, a sheep and beef officer with the Ministry of Agriculture in Christchurch, and the Chathams branch of Federated Farmers.

Mr Galloway said after the sale that prices paid for the wool had reflected the yields of clean wool, which had ranged from 78.1 per cent to 83.6 per cent. An interesting point was that wool off some of

the rougher island country had yielded 83.5 per cent.

The wool brought from 219 c per kg, where some fine woolly hogget yielded 78.1 per cent, up to 238 c, where 11 bales of medium crossbred from J. Tuanui yielded 83.61 per cent, and another four bales of strong crossbred in the latter line also brought 238 c. Mr Galloway said it was believed that the wool would not have brought this money had it not been tested.

It was pleasing to see the Chathams farmers adopting modern marketing methods, commented the Ministry officer, who regularly visits the island. He recalled that they were showing the same progressive spirit in their ram buying and selling, with weaning and wool weights and fertility deviation figures being posted on the pens at the annual ram fair held in February.

The wool firm spokesman said that their decision to have some Chathams wool tested for yield seemed to have coincided with the farmer initiative, as one of their clients had also requested that his wool be tested.